Hour of Solitude

Blue Mantra Rhymes is the brainchild of Ed Cooke, an English ex-pat living and working in Thailand. A number of influences from the country have crept into previous releases issued under his birth name but Hour of Solitude, his latest project, sees him delve deeper both thematically and musically.

A tropical air seems invested in the very essence of the psychedelic folk on offer here: the languid pace of Cooke’s acoustic guitar rhythms on the sublime ‘Alison’s Anthem’ seem ready-made for humid conditions. But it’s the addition of Thai instruments throughout that make this such a unique enterprise. Synthesised ehru (bowed, two-stringed fiddle) and Asiatic strings add a markedly South-East Asian flavour to the guitars and dreamy vocals of ‘The Evening Tide’. ‘Farewell to the Wetlands’ combines vocal chants with the breathy rhythms of the khaen (Laos mouth organ) while Cooke’s family life informs ‘A Garden Claimed’, which is a touching tribute to a Thai relative in-law that pairs his delicately played ukulele with gently chiming strings. The multi-talented Cooke was also behind the cover’s superb piscine artwork.